OpenThread: hacktivism, Soros...

    Ironic that the new hacktivism is taking on Open Society, the one that did so much to promote transparent organizations after the wall. But the target seems to be Soros' promotion of arguments for the Ukrainian protesters in Maidan - a rather contentious issue that pitted the US left against US government actions as rather colonialistic (unlike Russia's continued influence over Ukraine, which is simply

    As Bloomberg notes: it seems pretty likely Russians behind. And it seems like the hackers floundered around, peddling boring info, getting no response, looking for traction until they thought to use Wikileaks. Yep, the disgruntled guy in the embassy with lots of time on his hands....

    So what is our future? "The enemy of my enemy is my friend"? Steady hacking of all organizations until everything's "transparent" (or won over to Trump's approach of "never use email"?)

    And who controls the agenda? will those cheering this on suddenly cry foul if/when the leaks turn to their disfavor? What about when Wikileaks and others publish personal private data like phone #'s & emails of people not even involved? What about a proper defense for info than looks immediately scandalous and evil on first release but actually does have valid justification? (like much of the Panama Papers)

    Earlier a Dagblog poster inferred that there would be more coming to incriminate Hillary in wrongdoing because various spokespeople at DNC & military seemed to him to say it that way. So now we're not even dealing with innuendo of what's been hacked - we're dealing with innuendo squared of what might be hacked, the dirty laundry we can only fantasize about (because it might not actually exist, but God is it fun....)

    So drop your socks and grab your toxic opinions - hacking, good or bad? (no waffling now, we need earnestness and roguish swagger).

    PS - here's how the NY Post reported this:

    Billionaire activist and major Hillary Clinton donor George Soros used his nonprofits to fund opposition research on critics of radical Islam and to discredit the Israeli government, according to more than 2,500 documents hackers put online.

    Soros’ Open Society Foundations gave $200,000 to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, to conduct “high-quality opposition research” to fight against “anti-Muslim xenophobia and to promote tolerance,” according to the Daily Caller, which first reported on the swiped documents.

    American Progress was founded by John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chief.

    The DC Leaks Web site said the hack attack on Soros was “launched by American hacktivists who respect and appreciate freedom of speech, human rights and government of the people.”

    But US security experts are blaming the leak on Russian hackers, according to Bloomberg News.

    Let's deconstruct this a bit.

    1) First they use this to smear Hillary both through Soros' support of her and the tie to her campaign chief Podesta, even though its almost certain that this tidbit was completely unknown to her.

    2) There's a funny counter-opinion between "fight against anti-Muslim xenophobia and to promote tolerance" vs. "to fund opposition research on critics of radical Islam and to discredit the Israeli government" - if you did a poll using the different wording, you'd find very different responses. (and I'm of course thinking, "WWTDD" (what would the Donald do?)

    3) Hacktivists who "respect and appreciate freedom of speech" except the freedom not to speak or to have one's speech released out of context in a haphazard way to unintended audiences, and

    4) "Respect government of the people" didn't quite seem to extend to Ukraine where "the people" seemed to have quite enough of their corrupt leader and threw him out on his ear. In earlier times, Wikileaks reported on the corruption of Arab leaders, and voila, Tunisians and Algerians upended their governments. Apparently that's a no-no for ex-Soviet enclaves.

    5) "Billionaire activist and major Hillary Clinton donor George Soros used his nonprofits to fund opposition research " - yes, that's what his Open Society Fund has done for some 23 years - try to level the playing field of hate and to promote tolerance, which is often against the habits and patterns of entrenched anti-democratic governments, including many of the heavily compromised figures who managed to insert themselves in government when the Communists were brought down. He also supports gay rights, minority rights (like Albanians living in Macedonia, gypsies elsewhere, women's rights, education, media tools for alternative journalists....) and other causes we might think positive. Yes, putting money in *does* control things to some extent. But it's also not like Soros hasn't been rather transparent in the types of things he spreads his money around on.

    Comments

    Yeah Peracles, it is just the samo samo?

    The day following the election of Secretary Clinton (recall the days when all secretaries were women?) some GOPers will be calling for her impeachment and for surety that Hillary will only reign for one term and....

    Anyway I was reading this hilarious essay in Salon from Thursday.

    It made me laugh.

    http://www.salon.com/2016/08/18/the-greatest-living-american-writer-i-can-no-longer-support-this-trump-fellow/


    He's better when he writes satire, but not bad op-ed.


    So what is our future? "The enemy of my enemy is my friend"? Steady hacking of all organizations until everything's "transparent" (or won over to Trump's approach of "never use email"?)

    Without endorsing it... yes?  Seems clear to me, and this will sound very stupid the moment my privacy is violated and I am mad about it, that the technology of transparency is growing more quickly than the ethos of transparency and that privacy is bound to lose in the same way that local ownership of businesses has been lost to consolidation.

    Unless you're exceedingly careful, or opt out, unabomber style, you're vulnerable.  Oh, wait, The unabomber got caught, decades before we had the internet we have now.  So... it's all a game of wits.  Outsmart anyone who would out you or... be not important enough to out?


    Since they'll soon be able to tap into your brain without your will, the only way out is to be very secretive, not even telling yourself what you're up to.


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